Volunteers help build ramp to home for special-needs boy

Leroy Windsor suffers from muscular dystrophy

A young Glen Burnie boy with a physical disability is getting some much-needed help from volunteers after a good-hearted church member brought his situation to light.

Leroy Windsor, 11, watched from his back yard Wednesday as about two-dozen volunteers from Home Depot worked hard to make his life better. The volunteers and area construction companies are building him a ramp into his home.

"I'll be able to get out more, so then I won't struggle up the steps. I can just walk down and up," the boy told 11 News.

Leroy has muscular dystrophy and lives with his grandmother, Margaret Windsor, who is out of work and is recovering from a stroke. Walking is difficult for Leroy, and climbing stairs is impossible, so when fellow church member Dorena Burton drove him home one Sunday and watched him trying to get inside, her heart broke.

"He literally climbed up these steps like an animal. I went home with tears in my eyes, and I called his grandmother and said, 'This little boy needs a ramp.' She said, 'I know, but I can't afford it.' I said, 'Let me tell you something, we're going to get him a ramp,'" Burton said.

She went to the Glen Burnie Home Depot and met with supervisor Lisa Donnelly, who said she had to see the situation for herself.

"I've got to see this because if a little boy is crawling up the steps, that's a problem," Donnelly said. "We got the permit, and I started getting my volunteers in order."

The volunteers said they're more than happy to help.

"It's wonderful," said Monica Pineau of Working Women in Construction. "We were just committed to coming and helping out."

"It's priceless. It's very rewarding. I have a special-needs daughter at home, and when I heard about him, I was more than happy to be here," said volunteer Bill Burns of Babco Contractors.

Leroy's grandmother said she's overwhelmed by the support.

"It is amazing that people are coming out to do all this work -- the labor and material. I could never afford it," she said.

Leroy said he's thrilled, too.

"I'm happy that they're spending some of their time to help out," he said. "They did all of this out of their own time to help me."

The Home Depot said after it saw the condition of the home, it decided to also put in a new door and a fence.